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Symbolic Narratives/ Africa Cinema
Symbolic Narratives/ African Cinema Symbolic Narratives/African Cinema: Audiences, Theory and the Moving Image edited by June Givanni, is a compilation of many essays which discuss the future of African film. Cultural theorists, filmmakers and critics explore issues concerning: problems of production, exhibition and distribution, and the problems of modernity, postcolonial theory and the increasing presence of Western cultural imperialism. The articles I chose to review, Africa, the West and the Analogy of Culture: the Cinematic Text after Man, the Iconography of West African Cinema, and African Cinema and Ideology: Tendencies and Evolution represent the anthology’s view that African cinema exists in an ever changing world, controlled by Western tastes. Africa, the West and the Analogy of Culture: the CInematic Text after Man Africa, the West and the Analogy of Culture written by Sylvia Wynter, is about the context of African cinema. Western cinema has created the modern depiction of “man” and through film the world has merged into a local culture. The world has become used to watching white Euro-American characters in films expressing western cultural values. This has created a world with no room for the voice of the colonized. Where and how do African filmmakers fit into this western created world? With the emergent of film at the height of imperialism, western filmmakers depicted African and other “colonized people” as savages. These characters are usually ravenous dangerous individuals and exist only to create harmful stereotypes. Wynter proposes a new conceptual ground for African Cinema, one which calls for putting an end to created perceptions of what it means for Africans to be human. Eventually the systemic nature of negatively marked representations of black Africa and the peoples of black African descent, by the history of western cinema, and social texts of the contemporary west will cease to exist. The Iconogrpahy of Western African Film The Iconography of West African Cinema written by Manthia Diawara, explores West African cinema and the use of film as a cultural tool. Cinema can be used to magnify Africa and educate the world. Diawara writes that many filmmakers are discovering how film can be used to give Africa back its dignity, just as it had been used by colonists and racist films to destroy the image of black people. There are many problems that block this goal. West African cinema relies on France for funding, causing the films to be shot in French. A sense of realism is lost when you are filming a tribe, but they speak French. This is more than just a West African problem, it is a continental problem. Films are also shot in English in order to attain funding and western distribution in lucrative markets Cinema and Idealogy: Tendencies and Evolution African Cinema and Ideology written by Ferid Boughedir, discusses what constitutes African film. Movies are being made by Africans for African audiences. They depict conflicts of modernity versus traditionalism. Scenes of people leaving the village for the modern city fill their theaters. The struggle against colonialism is evident in these films socio-political messages, but they are becoming less moralistic, instead, more commercial. Western markets and festivals simply will not show African films with strong moral messages. A lot of this may have to do with the guilt Europe still feels for the decolonization of Africa. They only want a certain image of the continent. African cinema is dependent on Europe for distribution. They are reliant on this wider audience which shapes ideology and turns African cinema into a travel agency, allowing guilt free escapism for western audiences. List of Articles Boughedir, Ferid. “African Cinema and Ideology: Tendencies and Evolution” Symbolic Narratives/African Cinema: Audiences, Theory and the Moving Image. Ed. June Givanni. London.St Edmundsbury Press Ltd. 2000. 109-121.Print. Diawara, Manthia. “The Iconography of Western African Cinema” Symbolic Narratives/African Cinema: Audiences, Theory and the Moving Image. Ed. June Givanni. London.St Edmundsbury Press Ltd. 2000. 81-89.Print. Wynter, Sylvia. “Africa, the West and the Analogy of Culture: the Cinematic Text after Man” Symbolic Narratives/African Cinema: Audiences, Theory and the Moving Image. Ed. June Givanni. London.St Edmundsbury Press Ltd. 2000.25-78.Print.